Business

When researching a company it is helpful to begin by finding out if the company is a public company, a private company, or a subsidiary of a larger parent company. This will give you an idea of where you might look for information, and what type of information is likely to be available.

A public company:

• sells shares on the stock market
• legally obligated to disclose financial information to their shareholders and to legislative bodies (SEC)
• more information is available for public companies

A private company:

• is privately owned and do not trade on stock exchange (funded by private investors or venture capitalists)
• not required to meet the same filing requirements of public companies
• more difficult to research (because there is less publicly filed information)

A subsidiary:

• is completely or partially owned and controlled by a parent company
• find information about the subsidiary by researching the parent company

Use the suggested resources listed below and the business research databases to gather information about companies. In addition to what you find in these resources, company web sites are also a great place to search for information about a company. Companies will often include information about top executives, annual reports, and key financial information on their public web site. Use company websites carefully as the information and data can be biased.